Music of the Night
by LadyBowie1947
Summary: A piano lesson turns into a lesson on Erik's past and their future. ErikxOC


**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_I know I usually write Labyrinth or LabyrrinthxKingdom Hearts, but I love Phantom of the Opera and would like to write for that fandom as well. My Phantoms shall always be the Phantom from the 2004 ALW film though I'll call him Erik like the book and I think the last name I'll use came from an older film version from the eighties. Plots may or may not fit in time with the film's timeline or any point after it and may stand free. Also, I haven't decided how much I'll use Christine. I don't have anything against the ErikxChristine pairing. I just don't know if I'll ever use her. If and whenever I don't, I'll probably be using an OC named Erin like I did here._

_My friend loves POTO, too, and that's who this is for. Merry Christmas and happy birthday, Christine! I love our RPs - you make a great Phantom. You're an amazing friend and I don't know what I'd do without you around._

* * *

Erik sat in a comfy chair in his lair near his piano, wearing only black breeches and a white poet's shirt that was open slightly to reveal a bit of his toned chest and a pair of black boots. His black hair slicked back as always and he wore one of his signature white half-masks to hide his deformity. In his lap was a leather-bound book but he wasn't reading. His attention was on his piano. Specifically, the woman _playing _his piano.

A blond woman with slightly curled hair and blue eyes was playing a soft tune, her fingers moving skillfully over the ivory keys. She obviously knew how to play though the few mistakes she made revealed she was a bit out of practice. Once she finished, she turned to Erik with a bright smile. "How did I do?"

He smiled slightly and set his book aside, standing and moving to her side. "Here," he pointed to a spot on the sheet music, "watch your finger placement. I heard your fingers slip and play extra notes." She nodded and he continued, pointing to another section of the sheet music. "And here you rushed through, making the song faster than it is meant to be."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Erik, you know why I don't play this song. You can't expect me to get it perfect right away."

With a soft chuckle, Erik shook his head in amusement. "I know, Erin." He frowned and sat next to her on the bench. "Let me play it for you. So you may hear it perfectly."

Erin tilted her head curiously. "You don't have to. I know this is not one of your favorite compositions."

"Nonsense." His tone was meant to be light and uncaring, but Erin heard the slight note of hurt that Erik always held when this particular song came up. She knew this was his least favorite of his songs no matter how beautiful she thought it was or how much he tried to act like it didn't hurt him to remember the time of his past when he wrote it – the time before he'd met her.

With a shake of her head, Erin smiled softly at him and nodded to him to play if he wanted. As he began to play the music, her eyes went to his hands, watching their graceful movements, his long, pale fingers expertly dancing over the keys. She glanced away for only a second to look up at the sheet music when she knew the vocal part came in, intending to sing it as he played since he seemed to never sing it.

_Child of the wilderness__  
__Born into emptiness__  
__Learn to be lonely__  
__Learn to find your way in darkness_

She felt him tense beside her as she started to sing, but neither faltered or stopped and easily kept going. She did glance at his face only to find his expression calm yet blank as it always was when he played. She turned back to the music and continued to sing._  
_

_Who will be there for you__  
__Comfort and care for you__  
__Learn to be lonely__  
__Learn to be your one companion__  
_

At this, she gently placed a hand on his shoulder, needing to show him she was there for him though she knew he knew it. He didn't even twitch when she touched him and continued to play smoothly.

_Never dreamed out in the world__  
__There are arms to hold you__  
__You've always known your heart was on its own__  
_

She slid her arm around his waist and felt him shift toward her just slightly though he never faltered in his playing just as she knew he never would. Erik was too skilled to let anything ever distract him from his playing.

_So laugh in your loneliness__  
__Child of the wilderness__  
__Learn to be lonely__  
__Learn how to love life that is lived alone__Learn to be lonely__  
__Learn to be your one companion__  
_

She felt tears fill her eyes and wiped them away with her free hand. Any time she heard this song, the lyrics reminded her of how alone Erik used to be before she met him and she hated the idea that such a sweet, loving man could ever be alone. She gently gave him a light squeeze and continued to sing._  
_

_Never dreamed out in the world__  
__There are arms to hold you__  
__You've always known your heart was on its own__So laugh in your loneliness__  
__Child of the wilderness__  
__Learn to be lonely__  
__Learn how to love life that is lived alone__Learn to be lonely__  
__Life can be lived life can be loved alone_

As they finished words and music at the same time, she pulled away and wiped at her eyes. When she looked at Erik, he was watching her with a slight smile and knowing eyes. "Please do not cry, love." He reached a hand to gently wipe at a tear under her eye. "I am not sad anymore."

She giggled slightly and leaned forward to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. "I know. But I still hate the idea that you were ever that hurt."

"I know." He rubbed her back a bit before pulling away and smiling brightly. "Would you like to hear my revision of this piece? It is the same music, but entirely different words."

Erin nodded and watched him move papers until he found the ones he needed. As he began to play, she skimmed over the words to sing to his playing. But before she could start, he began to sing to his playing.

_No one would listen__  
__No one but her__  
__Heard as the outcast hears__  
_

Erin frowned at the "her," wondering who it could be, but listened closely, loving the sweet music and Erik's beautiful voice.

_Shamed into solitude__  
__Shunned by the multitude__  
__I learned to listen__  
__In my dark, my heart heard music__  
_

When he sang the last line, she felt her heart clench. She wasn't sure if it was the words themselves or the way Erik sang them.

_I long to teach the world__  
__Rise up and reach the world__  
__No one would listen__  
__I alone could hear the music__Then at last, a voice in the gloom__  
__Seemed to cry, "I hear you!__  
__I hear your fears,__  
__Your torment, and your tears!"_

Just as with the first verse and the "her," Erin wondered who it was that was to be speaking to him. She shivered at the way he sang the lines and watched his face, seeing a bit more emotion than he held when she sang the first song. She saw the sadness of being alone and the relief at being found and she wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a bit of love hidden in his eyes.

_She saw my loneliness__  
__Shed in my emptiness__  
__No one would listen__  
__No one but her__  
__Heard as the outcast hears__No one would listen__  
__No one but her__  
__Heard as the outcast hears_

As Erik stopped playing and rested his hands in his lap, Erin watched him. He stared at the sheet music for a moment then smiled at her and she saw all the love he held for her. Her eyes filled with tears once more when she realized the "her" and "she" and the one speaking were _her_. Once again, she held him tightly to her, curling her fingers into his shirt.

"I love you," she whispered. "So very much…"

She felt his soft chuckle and felt him wrap his arms tightly around her. "I love you, too. More than anything. Except perhaps my music."

She heard the teasing tone in his voice at the last part and giggled slightly then pulled back to face the piano and sorted through the music then raised her fingers to rest on the keys.

Erik watched her curiously as she looked through the music then smiled lovingly at the song she'd chosen. "Our song."

She smiled lovingly and nodded then turned back to the piano to play, knowing he would sing as he always did.

_Night-time sharpens__  
__Heightens each sensation__  
__Darkness stirs and wakes imagination__  
__Silently the senses abandon their defenses_

_Slowly, gently, night unfurls its splendor__  
__Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender__  
__Turn your face away__  
__From the garish light of day__  
__Turn your thoughts away__  
__From cold, unfeeling light__  
__And listen to the music of the night_

_Close your eyes and surrender to your  
__  
__Darkest dreams__  
__Purge your thoughts of the life__  
__You knew before__  
__Close your eyes__  
__Let your spirit start to soar_

As she played, Erin shivered as Erik held the last note of the last line though she kept her fingers from trembling so she wouldn't make any mistakes.

_And you'll live__  
__As you've never lived before  
__Softly, deftly,__Music shall caress you_

_Hear it, feel it,__  
__Secretly possess you__  
__Open up your mind,__  
__Let your fantasies unwind,__  
__In this darkness that__  
__You know you cannot fight__  
__The darkness of the music of the night_

_Let your mind start a journey__  
__Through a strange new world__  
__Leave all thoughts__  
__Of the world you knew before__  
__Let your soul take you where you__  
__Long to be__  
_

When Erik sang the last part and his voice echoed around them, filled with such emotion, her mind threatened to go blank and lose itself in his voice and the emotion within it, but she forced herself to focus and continue to play.

_Only then can you belong to me_

_Floating, falling, sweet intoxication__  
__Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation__  
__Let the dream begin__  
__Let your darker side give in__  
__To the power of the music that I write__  
__The power of the music of the night_

_You alone can make my song take flight__  
__Help me make the music of the night_

She stopped playing and watched him as he held the last note then opened his eyes and smiled at her as he pulled her into his arms once more. With a sigh of content, she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head over his heartbeat as she always did.

They stayed that way for a few minutes as Erik hummed quietly and rubbed her back before she pulled away slightly to look at him lovingly, tracing the bottom edge of his mask as she always did when she wanted him to take it off. He chuckled and nodded and she gently took it off and laid it on the piano, then caressed the cheek she'd just uncovered, her golden ring with the diamond half-heart shimmering in the light of the candelabrum placed around the room.

"I love you, Erik."

He brought his own left hand to caress her cheek, his own golden band with the other half of the diamond heart shimmering in the candlelight. "I love you, too, Erin."

They each leaned forward to capture the other's lips in a soft, loving kiss, the sheet music of the songs they'd played scattered over the piano like a timeline of their lives, both of them knowing there would be more added in their endless, musical future.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Woo! My first POTO fic! And I'm proud to say it's for a friend. =D I really hope I did well for this, considering a lot of it was lyrics. ^^; Oh, and my model for Erin is Jennifer Morrison. I know I used a blond haired, blue eyed woman so I wanted to point out I'm not basing Erin off how the Christine from the novel is supposed to look. I'm just bad at describing so I can't really describe her looks other than that… ^^;_

_Anyway, happy birthday and Merry Christmas, Christine._


End file.
